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... absolute superciliousness, and, so far
from answering my salutations, had always ignored them.
"Alexis Ivanovitch," began the General in a tone of
affectionate upbraiding, "may I say to you that I find it
strange, exceedingly strange, that--In short, your conduct
towards myself and my family--In a word, your-er-extremely"
" Eh! Ce n'est pas ca," interrupted De Griers in a tone of
impatience and contempt (evidently he was the ruling spirit
of the conclave). "Mon cher monsieur, notre general se
trompe. What he means to say is that he warns you--he begs of
you most eamestly--not to ruin him. I use the expression
because--"
"Why? Why?" I interjected.
"Because you have taken upon yourself to act as guide to this,
to this--how shall I express it?--to this old lady, a cette
pauvre terrible vieille.
But she will only gamble away all
that she has--gamble it away like thistledown. You yourself have
seen her play. Once she has acquired the taste for gambling,
she will never leave the roulette-table, but, of sheer
perversity and temper, will stake her all, and lose it. In
cases such as hers a gambler can never be torn away from the diesel shoes href="/diesel.html" title="diesel">diesel
game; and then--and then--"
"And then," asseverated the General, "you will have ruined
my whole family. I and my family are her heirs, for she has
no nearer relatives than ourselves. I tell you frankly that
my affairs are in great--very great disorder; how much they are
so you yourself are partially aware. If she should lose a
large sum, or, maybe, her whole fortune, what will become of
us--of my children" diesel (here the General exchanged a glance
with De Griers)" or of me? "(here he looked at Mlle.
Blanche, who turned her head contemptuously away). "Alexis
Ivanovitch, I beg of you to save us."
"Tell me, General, how am I to do so? On what footing do I
stand here?"
"Refuse to take her about. Simply leave her alone."
"But she would soon find some one else to take my place?"
"Ce n'est pas ca, ce n'est pas ca," again interrupted De
Griers. "Que diable! Do not leave her alone so much as
advise her, persuade her, draw her away. In any case do not
let her gamble; find her some counter-attraction."
"And how am I to do that? If only you would undertake the
task, Monsieur de Griers! " I said this last as innocently as
possible, but at once saw a rapid glance of excited
interrogation pass from Mlle. Blanche to De Griers, while in
the face of the latter also there gleamed something which he
could not repress.
"Well, at the present moment she would refuse to accept my
services," said he with a gesture. "But if, later--"
Here he gave Mlle. Blanche another glance which was full of
meaning; whereupon she advanced towards me diesel with a bewitching
smile, and seized and pressed my hands. diesel Devil take it, but how
that devilish visage of hers could change! At the present
moment it was a visage full of supplication, and as gentle in
its expression as that of a smiling, roguish infant.
diesel
Stealthily, she drew me apart from the rest as though the more
completely to separate me from them; and, though no harm came
of her doing so--for it was merely a stupid manoeuvre, and no
more--I found the situation very unpleasant.
The General hastened to lend her his support.
"Alexis Ivanovitch," he began, "pray pardon me for having
said what I did just now--for having said more than I meant to
do.
I beg and beseech you, I kiss the hem of your garment, as
our Russian saying has it, for you, and only you, can save us.
I and Mlle. de Cominges, we all of us beg of you-- But you
understand, do you not? Surely you understand?" and with his
eyes he indicated Mlle. Blanche.
Truly he was cutting a
pitiful figure!
At this moment three low, respectful knocks sounded at the diesel
door; which, on being opened, revealed a chambermaid, with
Potapitch behind her--come from the Grandmother to request
that I should attend her in her rooms. "She is in a bad
humour," added Potapitch.
The time was half-past three.
"My mistress was unable to sleep," explained Potapitch; "so,
after tossing about for a while, she suddenly rose, called
for her chair, and sent me to look for you. She is now in the
verandah."
"Quelle megere!" exclaimed De Griers.
True enough, I found Madame in the hotel verandah -much put
about at my delay, for she had been unable to contain herself
until four o'clock.
"Lift me up," she cried to the bearers, and once more we set
out for the roulette-salons.
XII
The Grandmother was in an impatient, irritable frame of mind.
Without doubt the roulette had turned her head, for she
appeared to be indifferent to everything else, and, in
general, seemed much distraught. For instance, she asked me no
questions about objects en route, except that, when a
sumptuous barouche passed us and raised a cloud of dust, she
lifted her hand for a moment, and inquired, " What was that? "
Yet even then she did not appear to hear my reply, although at
times her abstraction was interrupted by sallies and fits of
sharp, impatient fidgeting. Again, when I pointed out to her
the Baron and Baroness Burmergelm walking to the Casino, she
merely looked at them in an absent-minded sort of way, and
said with complete indifference, "Ah!" Then, turning
sharply to Potapitch and Martha, who were walking behind us,
she rapped out:
"Why have YOU attached yourselves to the party? We are not
going to take you with us every time. Go home at once." Then,
when the servants had pulled hasty bows and departed, she
added to me: "You are all the escort I need."
At the Casino the Grandmother seemed to be expected, for no
time was lost in procuring her former place beside the
croupier. It is my opinion that though croupiers seem such
ordinary, humdrum officials--men who care nothing whether the
bank wins or loses--they are, in reality, anything but
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